


Skipping Pebbles

by BlueLotus



Category: A-Team (2010)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-19
Updated: 2012-09-19
Packaged: 2017-11-14 15:30:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/516841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueLotus/pseuds/BlueLotus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Face contemplates his lot in life..........</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skipping Pebbles

Skipping Pebbles

Face tossed the small pebble into the air and caught it again, rubbing his thumb across the smooth, cool surface of it, and absently stared out over the lake next to the log cabin he'd hastily scammed them.

The last job they'd had, a simple case of thugs picking on the little guys, had almost ended in a blood bath when the little guys in question suddenly decided that despite hiring them for their help, the A-Team was nothing more than a huge reward offered by the military for their capture.

When they pulled out guns on them, there was a fraction of a second's hesitation where none of the team could actually believe what was happening. It was just a moment, as time seemed to grind to a halt, and then all hell broke loose.

The team quickly escaped; their special ops Ranger training obviously no real match for the civilians, even with itchy trigger fingers and greedy minds, and they screeched away, leaving them blustering in a cloud of burning rubber and stray bullets.

And of course they weren't paid.

They'd driven for hours, the heavy, silent atmosphere in the van a mixture of disappointment, frustration and anger, until Hannibal decided it was safe to stop.

The place was a small campsite in the middle of nowhere, with basic accommodations by a huge fishing lake. It was out of the way; it was safe; it was perfect.

But Face still sat frowning by the water, wondering why what had happened, had happened. Why the people they'd gone out of their way to help, had suddenly turned on them. Were they really hated so much?

What was the point of it all?

He sighed and tossed the pebble into the air again before slinging across the water as far as he could make it skim. It bounced four times causing ripples to disturb the tranquil surface, and then it disappeared, as if it had never been there, and the water stilled again.

It was a little like their lives. They'd surface, cause ripples in the lives of those unfortunate enough to need the expertise of a bunch of misfit ex-army fugitive Rangers, and then they'd disappear again as if they didn't exist.

Face looked at his hand, splayed his fingers. Did he exist? Really? A small smile curved his lips; he was beginning to sound like Murdock. He picked up another pebble and skimmed it across the lake.

He hated this life, always running, looking over their shoulders, never knowing if today was the day their luck would run out. But then, he loved the life he had with his team, too. He'd never leave them, they were his family. Hannibal was the father figure he never had, BA was the big brother always looking out for him, and Murdock was his man, his best friend, his soul mate... his love.

He scooped up another pebble and looked at it, turning it over in his hand, feeling the tangible existence, cold in his palm; the hard, solid, _real_ presence, and gripped it tight.

Murdock was also his rock, the one person that grounded him when things became confusing and uncertain. When life, like right now, made him wonder what the hell he was doing, why he was still around, and why the fuck didn't he just run and disappear forever... 

This time, the pebble bounced six times across the calm lake and then ducked under the water, never to be seen again, and Face stared wishing he could do the same.

"Hey, that was a good one, Facey."

Face blinked, his morose mood shifting gears and sliding away as easy as the ripples settled on the lake surface as the soft Texan voice broke the quiet surrounding him.

"Yeah?" he murmured when his lover quietly moved up beside him.

"I bet you can get ten skips on that lake today," Murdock grinned.

"I bet you can, buddy," Face agreed and picked up a handful of pebbles, handing one to the pilot. He watched as his lover pitched it across the water, counting eleven skips before it ducked beneath the surface and disappeared. Murdock whooped and grinned widely.

"Didya see that? Eleven!"

Face nodded, smiling slightly as the contagious enthusiasm bled into him. Murdock stood close to him and cocked his head, assessing, pondering, his amazing mind working out his quiet lover.

"What's wrong, Facey?"

Shaking his head, Face offered him another smile, forced and brittle, and looked away. The setting sun cast hues of burnt umber and oranges across the lake, making the whole scene look like something out of a fairytale, beautiful in its tranquillity, mysterious, magical, and Face blinked, wondering if it was real, or had he finally checked out. He hurled another pebble, wanting to disrupt the serenity, and watched as it flew through the air and was swallowed up in the deep with an insignificant splash that didn't even warrant a decent ripple. 

Murdock grabbed Face's fist as he raised it again, curling his fingers around another cold stone inside his lover's hand. Face slid his troubled eyes to the unwavering blue-green ones and stared. They both stayed silent for a minute.

Lowering his gaze to their clasped hands, Face finally smiled. The small rock inside their fists was nothing to what Murdock was to him, and he slowly let the pebble fall to the shore. He didn't need small pebbles, he needed his rock. He had his rock right here, right now.

Nodding, Murdock leaned forward and brushed his lips against Face's. After the tense van ride to the lake, and the way Face quietly disappeared soon after they'd arrived, he knew his lover was in that place inside his head, that place where Face fought against confusion and uncertainty, of where the bitter harshness of reality caused him to ask _that_ question, the one the pilot had personally buried under a mound of crazy memories... Why? 

"I love you," the pilot whispered, smiling as the troubled look in his man's beautiful blue eyes slowly melted away. Face kissed Murdock again, gently, tongue nudging tentatively into his mouth. He threaded his fingers through the messy brunette hair and clung on almost desperately as his best friend and lover helped all the uncertainty and fear that was consuming him slowly leech out.

A small shuddering breath escaped Face as they ended the kiss. "Thanks, James," he breathed and pulled the pilot into a hug, wrapping his arms around the smaller frame and sighing. He closed the door to that place in his head and pushed away his anxieties. He had his rock to ground him, keep him sane, keep him going through whatever shit life threw at them. And he kept his crazy lover sane, too. 

"Anytime, Facey," Murdock smiled and picked up another pebble, skipping it across the water and grinning. This time, Face grinned too.

~

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Stiney at Ateam_Inspire.


End file.
